Hi, Robot

Elon Musk — he of Tesla car fame — recently announced his Next Big Project will be to create a “friendly” humanoid robot that can do all the tasks humans generally detest.

“In the future, physical work will be a choice,” Musk said when introducing his “Tesla Bot.” “If you want to do it, you can. But you won’t need to do it.”

Great. More jobs taken away from our low-skilled, under-educated fellow Americans.

But getting back to the Tesla Bot — which is nowhere near becoming reality — with Musk’s billions it seems to be heading for fast-track development built primarily on the Tesla self-driving vehicle, which is farther along but still not ready for Prime Time.

Musk said the prototype for the robot is very humanoid — about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing around 125 pounds — but with no discernible facial features and certainly no gender-specific aspects.

And it would walk and use its limbs in a human-like fashion, just like the robots seen in the 2004 Will Smith movie “I, Robot.” ( Except in the movie, the robots DID have faces)

But not to worry: The Tesla Bot would be programmed not be a danger to humans and would not be able to move faster than 5 mph, so you could definitely outrun it.

Musk said the robot would use AI developed for the Tesla self-driving vehicles now in live, real-time, real-life driving tests.

The only trouble with that is — so far — there have been at least 25 accidents with 10 reported deaths.

Not a sterling track record.

At present, society is just beginning to feel the coming Robot Revolution.

Robotic devices have been used for years in factory settings doing mind-numbing, repetitive tasks, and they’ve infiltrated our homes with rumbas — automatic vacuum cleaners — and with Alexa and Siri Internet interface technology that lets us just ask questions rather than take the time to look up the answer for ourselves.

My 12-year-old granddaughter loves Alexa. She can sit and talk to it all day long, developing a relationship I fear may eventually become even deeper than with her human friends and relatives.

No word yet on whether you would be able to have a conversation or take a vacation with Tesla Bot.

Musk said he’s planning to produce a fully-functional robot prototype next year and is currently recruiting the most innovative, sharpest young minds when it comes to artificial intelligence programming.

And while we’re assured these humanoid robots will only be a boon to mankind, that sounds like a story I’ve heard many times before.

I just hope it has a happier ending.

Originally published at https://www.stevenvporter.com on August 23, 2021.